PATIENTS at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital are benefitting from a new state-of-the-art ward which cost £4.5m.

The new 24-bed Gallery Ward 2 opposite the Tower Block is part of a wider £100m cash injection to deliver centres of excellence across both Cheltenham General and Gloucestershire Royal and will deliver care for the elderly including those with dementia and who are acutely frail.

The new ward boasts four four-bedded bays, eight side rooms, dedicated ensuites, a new lift as well as a new staff room, pantry for cooking and cleaning and dedicated storage.

The ward is also kitted out with new furniture, bedside USB portals for electronic devices and the latest technology to monitor patients.

While there have been no additional beds created as part of the works the beds that are there are a much higher standard.

The development, completed by contractors Kier, is part of much wider building works improvement programme which started last year and has already seen a new £6.5m radiology department re-open at Cheltenham General and a new £1m medical same day emergency care unit open at Gloucestershire Royal.

This unit enables more patients to be seen and treated on the same day helping to avoid hospital admissions and avoiding the need for treatment at the emergency department altogether.

Professor Mark Pietroni, medical director and interim chief executive at GHR, said: “This is a very exciting milestone for the team and the Trust more broadly as we provide the next generation of care in line with our vision for two centres of excellence.

“We all have a loved one, or know of someone who’s elderly, and as more and more of us live longer, and with more complex long-term conditions, so this ward provides the very best facilities and specialist care."

Consultant geriatrician Dr Sangeeta Kulkarni added: “There has been a great deal of care and thought gone into how the ward has been built so that it best suits the needs of our patients. For example, each bay has been colour coded when painted meaning it’s dementia friendly.

"Therefore patients who may walk away from their beds can navigate back much more easily.

"The floors are matt vinyl because shiny floors or floors with speckles in them are known to confuse and disorientate dementia patients."